


Lucky Number Seven

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, Episode Tag, Episode: s07e21 Institutional Memory, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-13
Updated: 2008-02-13
Packaged: 2019-05-31 09:26:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15116513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: "You tell me that I push too hard, and maybe I do.  But I am fighting your gravity."





	Lucky Number Seven

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: The first several lines of this story are the words of Debora Cahn, who wrote this wonderful episode. They are used only as a set-up. All other words belong to the author.  


* * *

“Do you want to work at the White House?”

CJ shook her head. She looked down at her shoes and then back at Danny.

“There is a typo in the Constitution.” She said.

“Well someone should look into that.”

“Toby’s going to deal with it.”

“OK. What else?”

“You like the sound of my voice?” she asked after a long silence.

“Very much, Claudia Jean.”

Danny moved closer to her and when his arms finally circled her waist, the tears fell. She bit her lip as Danny wiped them away. He kissed her face.

“I don’t want to fail…I don’t want to fail with you. I know you're not that scary but…”

“It is not about failure or success. It’s going to take a while for you to shake off the shackles of everything constantly being a battle.”

“You push too hard sometimes.” She whispered.

“Call me on it. Just because we have an argument, or even a fight, doesn’t mean we don’t still care for each other.”

“Danny…”

“What? C’mon, take off your coat. Relax your mind a little bit, and your heart honey; I feel it racing. Are you hungry?”

“I'm starving. Toby tempted me with what had to be the most delicious rosemary chicken I've ever had in my life.”

“You saw Toby?” Danny untied her coat, moved around her and pulled it down her arms. CJ handed him the scarf.

“Yeah. Andi came to me and asked to have him added to the pardon list. I had to let him know…I had to…”

“I understand. Do you want coffee?”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Putting her coat over the chair, he moved into the kitchen. CJ seemed unsure of what to do with herself, so she followed.

“He spoke in your favor.”

“Toby?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I guess I owe him one. We can order dinner from Marathon Grill and I’ll pick it up. I know you love their chicken. I used to have a menu around here somewhere.”

“Whatever you want. We don’t have to negotiate dinner, do we?”

Danny just smiled, going into the kitchen drawer and pulling out her cigarettes.

“I don’t usually condone this kind of behavior but you’ve had a hell of a day.”

“You have no idea.” CJ let out a long breath. “Tomorrow I have to go in and tell the President-elect no.”

“I will be with you in spirit.”

“Gee, thanks.” She laughed a bit, lighting a cigarette. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”

“No. Do you feel better?” he leaned over and stroked her face. “You look better.”

“Yeah. Danny, I do want to talk; you should know that. I probably have a lot to say too. I just…I’ll be back.”

“I will get dinner.”

CJ smiled. She kissed him softly; taking the cup of coffee he offered and walked down the hall to his bedroom.

***

“I like the way you look in my bathrobe.”

CJ curled against the pillows eating a delicious meal. It was rotisserie chicken, potatoes, and broccoli. Danny lay near the bottom of the bed and she smiled at him. They had not talked much in the past couple of hours but the tension was gone from the room and her shoulders. She did want this to work…she always had. It had always been Danny, from the very beginning.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” She said. “I think that’s what it was; I think that’s what it still is.”

“Like what?”

“Indecisive, confused, worried, scared, alone…to name a few. Even if I felt that way on January 21st I would have been able to hide it. I don’t want to be rescued.”

“I know. You tell me that I push too hard, and maybe I do. But I am fighting your gravity. I've been fighting it for eight years. All the things you are feeling are normal. You're getting ready to embark on a new journey. You're going to be alone after being part of a pretty tight knit team for almost a decade.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, though I know what you mean. This food is really good.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you good at this and I'm not?” CJ asked.

“You think I'm good at this? Firstly, I am going down a road I have never traveled. I've been a reporter for so long I am not sure I'm truly capable of being anything else. I was scared to death you were going to walk out on me tonight and not look back. I know it would have been out of fear, but I also know this is my last chance. We are in the same place and don’t have to face what's ahead alone.”

“But should we be together just because of that?” CJ asked.

“That is a viable question.”

“Will you answer it?”

“The answer is no. I believe the answer is no. I want to be with you because I love you.”

“You don’t know me.”

“CJ, I'm not saying this to be an asshole, but you are not an enigma. You are complicated, yes. You have shadows, sides, and compartments. I feel like I know you better than many people ever will. You don’t have to tell me everything…I just feel it. I don’t want to make it sound like its some psychic connection but its something. I felt it the first time we met. I think when some of this falls away and you wake up one beautiful California morning, you will remember that we have always had something.”

“I do remember that you had a crush on me.” CJ said.

“What? My memory recalls the crush being quite mutual, Claudia Jean. You kissed me first. You kept kissing me.”

“You started it.”

“How so?”

“The campaign trail. You started on the campaign trail and took it all the way to the White House Pressroom. You were relentless and I just gave in with the kiss.”

“Gave in? You cornered me.”

“Whatever. It just built and built from there until you didn’t take the editor job.”

“I told you…”

“Let me finish Daniel.”

“Yes ma'am; I'm sorry.”

“You left to work overseas; you came back, and guess what? You started it again. Dressed as Santa no doubt, with very naughty intentions. You also managed to blow the roof off my glass house with the Shareef thing. As fast as you returned, you were gone again. Then one evening I get a phone call and guess who it was. You, doing what you do best…throwing me off of my plan.”

“Why do you think that is?” he asked.

“Because you are a rabble rouser, Danny Concannon…you rouse rabbles. You rattle my chain. You…”

“Love you.” He said.

“Love me.”

“Mmm hmm. If I had to wait for it to be perfect, we would be so old that Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward would play us in the film.”

“I love Joanne Woodward.”

Danny leaned across their dinner and drew her into a kiss. CJ smiled.

“So, what do we do now?” CJ asked.

“We should clean off the bed. Then I want to put my arms around you and slip in a movie that takes us away for a couple of hours. We’ll leave pardons, fears, and institutional memory far behind.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Josh and I still talk. He told me about the White House offer this afternoon.”

“Don’t talk to Josh about me Danny, OK? I am uncomfortable with that scenario. I know he means well, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Yeah. I won't anymore; I promise.” he sat up and began gathering dishes. “Do you want to pick the movie? There are several over in the cabinet.”

“Yeah. Do you have anything with Joanne Woodward?”

“Quite a few. I’ll be back.”

“Hurry.”

Now Danny was smiling, and he kissed her once more before he went to the kitchen with their dinner. Alone, CJ took a deep breath. She pulled the clip out of her hair, ran her fingers through it and took another deep breath. She could do this…she hoped she could do this. Wanting to, and acknowledging that was a big first step.

Toby was right about something. For all those years she had her boys. Their different personalities filled every void in her life. Deep down she knew it would not last but more important ventures took precedence over her love life. CJ could delude herself, with a few exceptions, with her six husbands. In a week, they would be gone. 

Leo was already gone. She woke up just that morning with tears in her eyes thinking about him. If this pardon did not work out, Toby would be gone for five long years. Josh would remain in the White House and Sam was back for another ride. Charlie, the baby of the family, prepared for his first year at Georgetown Law School. And President Jed Bartlet was on his way back to the Manchester farmhouse to live out his days as an elder statesman. CJ didn’t think he would be there long…he needed to help somehow. But he would be able to get his first rest since Leo walked into his Concord office with a napkin and a plan to beat John Hoynes.

“You haven’t moved.” Danny stood in the doorway staring at her. Her smile was tired but beautiful.

“No, I was thinking.”

“About what?”

“Filling the shoes of six men. What is your shoe size?”

“Eleven and a half.” He replied laughing. “I don’t think about it as filling six pairs of shoes. I think I'm the lucky number seven. How about From The Terrace?”

“Oh, that’s perfect.”

He got the movie and put it in the DVD player. On the bed, she curled in his arms and rubbed his belly. The sound that came from his diaphragm was almost like a content cat. He stroked her hair.

“Oh, I could get used to that. That touch could spoil me rotten.”

“There is a touch you have, Daniel, which could do the same for me.”

Danny pulled her close, kissing her passionately. CJ slipped deeper into his embrace and their escape.

***


End file.
